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We See a Starbucks Crystal Ball Frappuccino in Your Future

Tips, Tricks and must-knows

You’re probably asking yourself: another Starbucks frap taste test?! Why, Caledon?! Well, we’re on a roll, quite frankly. Plus, you clicked on this blog, so you’re only egging us on! Shame on us all.

Anyway, your resident experts on the limited-edition Starbucks Frappuccinos are back, trying the newest frap first so you know what to expect, or so you don’t have to; whatever comes first. Before we experience the magic of the new Starbucks Crystal Ball Frappuccino, a reminder of our previous scorings:

Enter March 2018. What started as a typical day in the office was interrupted by the announcement of a new Starbucks Frappuccino.

So we made the trip. We had to, for the fans, of course.

The Look

It begins with a cream base, tinted green by the magical gem drizzle; topped with peach whipped cream and fortune-telling candy crystal gems: blue for adventure, purple for magic, and green for luck. I got “adventure.” Score. The lack of layers in the Starbucks Crystal Ball Frappuccino comes unexpectedly, as the ingredient lists for its predecessors were practically endless. I took this as a positive sign: less is more, flavor-wise, anyway. The Crystal Ball Frappuccino was less than captivating if you’re just going for the Insta. Our advice? Wait for one more photo-worthy.

The Taste

The first sips were truly spellbinding and came with audible reactions. It was strongly sweet, almost cloyingly reminiscent of peaches and cream. A few stirs of the straw helps to reduce that, bringing the flavor closer to one of the milky caramel variety. 2/3 would recommend, I was the odd man out; my palate for black coffee has severely diminished any capacity I once had for sugary drinks. If you’ve got a sweet tooth and are nostalgic for fruit cups in heavy syrup, this one is your chance to splurge.

The Score

While the flavor was much better than the Unicorn Frappuccino, the Crystal Ball Frappuccino loses points for its lack of flair. Fewer layers were easier on the taste buds but not as worthy of the ‘Gram. It seems to us that Starbucks needs to find the sweet spot somewhere between sippable and snappable. While they certainly get props for the unique recipes and always bringing something new to their obsessed customer base, the Starbucks Crystal Ball Frappuccino earned a 6/10 from us. For flavor, uniqueness, and consistency in bringing out fun new fraps to try, Starbucks gets its points for the Crystal Ball Frappuccino. The insanely high sweetness level and less-than-impressive presentation are where they lost. After all, snapping pics is half the fun!

The Trend

The Crystal Ball Frappuccino is only here for “a few short days,” according to the Starbucks website, so give it a try sooner rather than later. With three fun & successful Frappuccino releases so far that leave some reviewers ranting and others snapping, it’s safe to say the Crystal Ball isn’t the last of the limited-edition releases.

Has Starbucks cast its spell on you? You can say no, but we see you sneaking off to try out the latest frap anyway. There’s no judgment from us.

Hey, want to know more about us while you’re sipping on your Starbucks Crystal Ball Frappuccino? Check out our other blogs!